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ETI to develop model of UK’s tidal energy resources

The Government-backed Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) has announced plans to develop a model of the UK’s tidal energy resources and how they might interact with each other.

The Tidal Modelling Project is looking for participants to put forward proposals that would investigate different tidal energy extraction systems around the UK and how extraction at one site might affect others.

The £450,000 project will encompass both tidal stream, which extracts energy from the passing tide, and tidal range, which traps tide waters in a barrage or lagoon before releasing them.

“As more of the UK’s tidal resource is extracted by either tidal stream or tidal range technologies, the interactions between different installations at locations around the UK’s coastline may become more significant,” says ETI chief executive David Clarke.

Small-scale studies have been performed in the past, but no such analysis has been carried out on a national scale.

The ETI project will build on its previous marine projects, such as PerAWAT (Performance Assessment of Wave and Tidal Array Systems), which is developing and testing tools for accurately estimating energy yields from wave and tidal energy.

“At the end of the project we will be better equipped to help industry and Government make decisions on the potential future role for tidal in the UK’s energy mix,” says Clarke.

The deadline for organisations to inform the ETI that they intend to submit a proposal is March 9, while full proposals must be received on or before March 28.

The ETI aims to start the project this autumn and complete it by the end of October 2012 at the latest.